From the Darkness He Rises
by Nautica7mk
Summary: Cut off from the life Anakin Skywalker once knew, he becomes a stranger without a name searching for his place in a galaxy filled with turmoil while the love of his life searches for the same.
1. Fallen From Grace

**Title**: From the Darkness He Rises

**Author**: Nadia Mack

**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing

**Summary**: Cut off from the life and name he once knew, a stranger searches for his place in a galaxy filled with turmoil.

**Author's Notes**: I suppose this is an alternate universe using the backdrop that's given in Episode I to III with two very notable exceptions. Anakin survived but is lost from his previous life and Padme didn't die as well. I tried getting back into the swing of things with "Shattered" but I just got lost writing it because real life intruded and the storyline I had in mind no longer fueled me to continue the way I wanted to. For any reader that followed it, I apologize I couldn't give it a respectable ending. And if ever my muse returns, I'll definitely go back.

* * *

There was coldness and pain. Everything he knew, his past, the present and the clouded future that always seemed to weigh against him faded against the hypersensitive agony he felt coursing throughout his body until there was nothing left.

Nothing left but numbness.

And silence.

* * *

"Senator," Obi-Wan said with a relieved smile. "We were beginning to worry you would never wake."

Padme blinked several times against the luminescent lights that charged her senses when she awoke. Feeling incredibly tired she managed to speak a few words. "Where am I?"

"You're in a safe place, and healing for now," he replied vaguely.

With immense effort, Padme managed to look around her unfamiliar surroundings. "What happened?" she asked hoarsely.

"What do you remember?"

"I…" Then her memories returned in minute detail, tearing at her soul. "Anakin," she remembered painfully. Padme tried to lift herself upright but was held back by Obi-Wan's quick hands. "Where is he? What's happened to him?" But Obi-Wan didn't need to answer because she knew, and the knowledge of it broke her heart. Immediately, her hands came to her midsection. "My babies? Where are my babies?"

"They're fine," Obi-Wan assured, his face reflecting the same loss she felt. "Senator Organa is looking after them right now." A faint smile appeared on his lips as he added, "They're beautiful, Senator."

Padme began to cry, and not just for the loss of the Republic she's served for most of her young and adult life, but for the man she held dearest to her heart. The man she swore to love and cherish for the rest of their lives.

Now the man she fell so powerfully in love with was lost in the darkness no one had known was waiting to swallow him whole until it had been too late.

"Bring me my children," she begged. "I want to be with my children."

Obi-Wan bowed his head and did what she asked, and after a few short moments that felt longer than it should have been, her babies, the living breathing proof of the only good thing that came from the war that's taken everything else from her was ushered into the room.

Padme's long time friend and colleague, Senator Bail Organa, Crown Prince of Alderaan held one infant in his arms while her other newborn was being held by Master Yoda.

"Awake, you are," Master Yoda said as he hovered in his chair nearer to her. "Relieved very much, we all are."

"We were all worried you wouldn't make it," Bail shared with equal relief. He leaned down and carefully placed baby Leia in her anxiously awaiting arms.

Padme tried to stifle her tears as Master Yoda passed Luke to Obi-Wan so he could place him in her arms as well. Padme held her children closely against her as if they were her last remaining lifelines. Memories of her husband came crashing into her again and a new wave of grief and tears enveloped her.

"Oh, Ani," she said sadly, staring into the innocent faces of the babies they made together.

How could it have come to this?

Their hopes and dreams disappeared so quickly, Padme didn't know how she could move on from it. She didn't even know if she even had the strength to.

"Overcome this, you will," Master Yoda said faithfully.

"You're children will need you, Senator," Obi-Wan added. "I'm sorry it has come to this, but know that you're not alone."

"It should be Anakin here with me right now," Padme spoke, her emotions numb with sorrow. She looked up into Obi-Wan's eyes, the man her husband considered both a father and brother, and knew he felt the same pain she carried for the loss of the man they both loved so much.

From that moment she understood that their lives, and the lives of her children from this point on was going to get even harder. So with as much strength and will she could harness even in her emotionally weakened state, she steeled her pain away from the loss and concentrated on the only two beings that needed her to get through this dark time.

With a deep breath, she said, "Tell me what needs to be done."

* * *

A year later, within the walls of a dimly lit room lay at the center a colorless tank filled with thick pinkish liquid. Surrounding the chamber were monitors on all sides surveying the vitals of the lone body inside the enclosed tomb.

All was stable, until a hand moved.

**Tbc...**


	2. Awakening

**Chapter 2**: Awakening

**Author**: Nadia Mack

**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing

**Summary**: Cut off from the life he once knew, a stranger without a name searches for his place in a galaxy filled with turmoil while the love of his life searches for the same.

**Author's Notes**: This is a work-in-progress but it's not meant to be a particularly long story. It really depends on how I evolve the characterizations of Anakin and Padme. Feel free to weigh in your thoughts or recommendations. I don't mind using reader ideas into my stories if the storyline warrants it.

* * *

The moment he coughed up the last remaining fluids from his lungs, he gasped for air. Metal disorientation and extreme dizziness followed quickly thereafter. The muscles on his arms and legs ached from long-term disuse but when he tried to move, he was greeted only with pain.

"I… I can't… I can't see." His voice cracked in between words. "Where… am I?" There was no response except for the monitors nearby and the pulsating sounds of a heartbeat thumping even faster.

He tried to move his limbs but failed because of the numbness he felt in his lower extremities. His arms swiped the floor in an attempt to find some sense of direction as he attempted once again to move.

"Somebody," he voiced painfully aloud. "Somebody help me!"

Almost immediately, sleeping gas invaded the room and without his sight to help him, he fell victim to its effect and his mind once again drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

"The longer I remain here the further I risk my children's lives," Padme said matter-of-factly to Bail Organa. Her years of civic duty hid the carefully hidden mask of Padme's true feelings.

"I understand, my lady but where will you go?"

Padme walked alongside Bail through the private but elaborate halls of the Royal House of Organa's private wing, disguised as a handmaiden to Queen Breha, Bail's beloved wife.

"It hardly matters. Their safety comes first and foremost."

"Breha and I can keep Luke with us, there's no reason to separate the twins now."

Padme shook her head negatively. "Obi-Wan and Master Yoda have warned me of the dangers if we keep the twins together. They are able to disguise their presence from Palpatine for now, while their minds are still young but as they grow older, their bonds will get stronger and their force signatures will become a beacon to the dark lord. I will not allow that monster to touch them."

"Surely, there has to be a way?"

"Unfortunately, there is not and as much as it pains me to do this, I must put their needs in front of my own. Leia will remain with you as we agreed before, but Luke must be separated from his sister."

"Where will he go?"

"Obi-Wan will ensure my son's safety, but beyond that, I do not know."

"Are you sure you can make such a heavy sacrifice?"

Padme let out a pained sigh. It has been a year now since the fall of the Republic. Palpatine's power grew even stronger since going as far as ordering thousands of clone troops and secret agents to scourge the galaxy for runaway Jedi's.

The Purges, they were calling it.

These were dark times and secrecy has become the only way of survival.

"You know I cannot remain here without endangering the rest of you. It hurts me not to see them but they're all I have left." Padme forced the tears threatening to spill from her eyes from appearing. "It's a choice no mother should ever have to make but there is no other rational alternative. I cannot afford to be reckless."

The truth of those words hovered heavily between them. Bail understood exactly what she meant.

"What happened between you and your husband, it wasn't—"

She stopped him speaking any further. "Bail, please don't." The memory of Anakin remained too hard a subject to discuss openly. It was hard enough thinking about him in her thoughts.

"As you wish."

* * *

The next time he awoke, Anakin finally managed to open his eyes. Still disoriented, he didn't know where he was and how he got here. The last thing he remembered was fire. Burning hot flames engulfing him into a maelstrom of intense pain.

One by one, his memories slowly returned.

His Jedi training.

His mother's death.

The war.

His shattered faith against all he believed in.

Palpatine.

Padme.

Betrayal.

The clear and haunting image of holding his wife's life in his very hand as he slowly drained the life out of her jump started his pulse rate to an alarming degree. Anakin thrashed in his bed, wanting out of here and trying desperately to reach out into the force to sense her.

"No," he panicked, closing his eyes and trying to feel her presence. "No, no, no." He breathed heavily, thinking of his wife and unborn child. "Padme." He coughed. "Padme!" he screamed.

The doors to his chamber hissed opened and a tall shaped being he'd never met before with glassy coated eyes, luminescent skin and a long thin neck entered the room and went about injecting him with some kind of liquid.

"Who are you?" Anakin rasped with difficultly, his senses becoming numb from the meds coursing through his veins. "Where's Padme?" he breathed slowly. "Where's my wife?"

The otherworldly being didn't seem to understand the need the question provoked.

"You are the only sentient human brought to our facilities." It moved closer to check the monitors. "You must conserve your energy. Your body has been sufficiently damaged. It took a long time to repair the considerable damage it sustained."

It was then Anakin realized that it wasn't robotic prosthetics he felt connected to his body, but limbs.

Real limbs.

Shocked, he looked at the other species with questions. "Who are you?"

"We are called Kaminoan's. You were brought to Kamino along with thousands of other military clones for rehabilitation or termination. During our initial sorting process, you were discovered."

Anakin let out a deep breath, remembering his last moments before total darkness consumed him.

"What happened to me?"

The Kaminoan gracefully lifted its hand and pressed something nearby. A moment later, multiple images appeared in mid-air around him showcasing the state of his indescribable body. Anakin flinched from the grotesque sight of his shredded and burnt self.

Anakin looked away unable to continue to stare at it. "You restored my body to me. Why?"

"Because we can," the Kaminoan replied simply.

Anakin wanted to scream, but his connection to the Force had abandoned him. He could not concentrate. He could not think. Without the power of the Force, the anger he felt from the dark side was stripped raw, expressing itself through self-hatred instead of all-consuming rage.

"You are still healing," the Kaminoan said taking him from his dark thoughts. "You will not be able to use your arms and legs until your body acclimates to the changes."

"How long?"

"Time will tell."

When the Kaminoan left him alone, it was then that Anakin allowed himself to remember every single moment that led to brutal encounter on Mustafar, and for the first time since he lost his mother, he thought of the last image he had of Padme and cried.

**TBC…**


	3. Currents of Life

**Chapter 3**: Currents of Life

**Author**: Nadia Mack

**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing

**Author's Notes**: I'm not entirely sure what rating this story is going to be. Right now, I'd label it a K but as storyline continues, it could very well change depending on the outcome of Anakin's own personal growth and the troubles that led him to his downfall in Episode III. So hang tight and please review if you get the chance.

As for Anakin, the Kaminoan's grew the parts he needed to be whole again. His outer skin when he was severely burned in Mustafar was regrown and that's why I had him inside the liquid filled tank for so long. Because through their technology, and because it was actually meant as a test-trial, he survived the procedure. The side-affects though cut him off from his abilities and depending on his mindset, he doesn't know if he'll ever get it back. Hence why he feels so lost in the following chapters and not killing things in his path. lol

* * *

On the way to her children's nursery, Padme's soft footsteps stopped just as she reached the door. For a moment, she allowed herself a brief smile at the sight that greeted her.

Leia sat on the floor in front of Master Yoda, who was trying with very little success to feed her without using his Force abilities.

"No, no, no, little one," Master Yoda said as the feeding bottle rolled right back to him. His small yet deceptively agile form lightly sighed as he reprimanded baby Leia. He attempted to give back her bottle which the toddler promptly swapped away. "Nourishment, this is. Make you strong and healthy, it will."

Failing to understand the wise old Jedi Master, Leia laughed in response, her small arms flailing about in what could be described as obvious disagreement.

"Very strong opinions you have, I see."

Leia blinked along with a wide smile that lit up the room, and Master Yoda's face.

Padme chuckled, realizing belatedly that the only time she could ever genuinely smile was when she was in the presence of her precious children.

"Is she giving you a hard time?"

Master Yoda shook his head without even turning to face her, knowing already that she had been watching quietly from the door. His attention was thoroughly engrossed in her daughter, and for good reason. While Luke generally enjoyed attention, he was the quietest and most obliging of the two.

"A strong mind, baby Leia has," he said.

Padme nodded before turning to see the nearby cradle devoid of her brother's presence. "Where's Luke?"

"In the gardens with Obi-Wan, he is."

* * *

Hidden deep within the hedge maze of the Royal Palace's large garden, Obi-Wan watched little Luke crawl on all fours as he peruses his surrounding. He watched the child touch everything in his path resulting in a wondrous smile at every new discovery.

Obi-Wan squatted beside Luke, his rough callused hand a result from years of Jedi training and soldiering combed lightly through the toddler's golden brown hair.

"I failed your father," he said in a low sad voice, and after a moment of silence, he added "But I promise I won't fail you."

"I will hold you to that vow."

Obi-Wan's head spun sideways looking slightly surprised that he didn't sense or notice Padme's approach.

"Milday," he greeted.

Padme returned his greeting then kneeled to that ground in front of Luke. Her child quickly loss interest with his surroundings and immediately reached for her. Padme smiled and welcomed his little open arms, pulling Luke towards her holding him tight.

"Have you been behaving yourself?" she asked but Luke seemingly ignored her question, deciding that resting his head on her shoulders was enough of an answer to appease her. Fortunately, it was.

"They are growing so fast," Obi-Wan said. "I've been surrounded by younglings in the Temple for many years but because the Masters had little interaction with them beyond the teachings, seeing Luke and Leia grow everyday without the burden of duty is a rather new experience."

"Gives an entirely new perspective on attachments, does it not?"

"You have every right to blame me," he said, his eyes downcast.

"We all made terrible choices, Obi-Wan," she said evenly letting the warmth and love of her child help her in her moment of need. "I don't hold you responsible anymore than I hold myself."

"Whenever I look at Luke I see his father."

Padme understood sadly.

"I know the feeling."

* * *

It's been a year, Anakin thought in disbelief.

Over a year since the fall of the Republic. The fall of everything he held dear, everything he fought for.

The sacrifices he made. The blood in his hands.

With no one to communicate with, not even the Kaminoan's, who only came to him to see to his medical needs, Anakin was forced to have only his thoughts for company.

Every part of him wanted to forget because every time he closed his eyes, the nightmares would come.

Haunting his every waking consciousness. Torturing him through his sleepless nights. It left him mad, bitter and filled with shame that he was half-starved for death to claim him once and for all.

He couldn't move his legs, and he could barely move his arms without flinching in pain. He was helpless. Alone.

"_Come away with me," his wife pleaded. "Help me raise our child. Leave everything behind while you still can!"_

Anakin stared absentmindedly into nothing as the memories rushing through his mind.

"_I don't know you anymore. Anakin, you're breaking my heart!" She tried to hold onto to him as much as she could. "You're going down a path I can't follow."_

"_The Jedi turned against me, don't you turn against me!"_

"_I hate you!!" he screamed at his former master._

Anakin attempted to shake his mind from the memories, but they remain steadfast, torturing him until he threw up, coughing as the contents of all the fluids he was forced to consume in his stomach spilled from his mouth.

* * *

"Are you really sure about this?" Bail asked again. "It isn't too late to change your mind."

"I am," Padme replied, hiding her tears as she held her son and daughter for the last time. They were crying, agitated, somehow aware that they were losing something very important to them. "And I won't change my mind. Spending these last few days with them only served to remind me how much their lives mean to me."

"We will find you somehow when the time is right."

"I know."

Bail placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to be brave all the time, my friend."

"I'm afraid it's all I have left to be." Padme reached over and embraced him. "Promise me she'll be happy. Swear to me she'll be safe."

"She will want for nothing," Bail promised. "Until my dying breath, no harm will come to her, I swear."

Padme held back her tears as she let her friend go. She watched as Obi-Wan took Luke and Breha took Leia. Master Yoda had already left the night before and said his farewells. He'd gone into hiding, just as she would do.

She stepped away from them, keeping her back straight as she draped her hood over her head, obscuring her face from people's view. She took one glance back, the sound of her children's cries crumpling what's left of her battered heart.

"May the Force be with you," she whispered to them softly before leaving the palace.

**TBC…**


	4. Four Years Later

**Title**: From the Darkness He Rises

**Author**: Nadia Mack

**Disclaimer**: I Own Nothing

**Summary**: Cut off from the life and name he once knew, a stranger searches for his place in a galaxy filled with turmoil.

**Author's Notes**: Wow, it's literally been years since I first started this. I lost sight of this and then reread it recently and thought I'd try my hand at it again.

**Chapter 4**: Four Years Later

* * *

Anakin walked aimlessly in the room, taking in every space, every crevice, his fingers slowly leaving a trail along the surface of the unfamiliar furniture and trying desperately to remember what it used to be like before… everything.

Nothing about the place, beyond it's architecture, was the same. The universe he lived in and protected for so much of his young life has become a stranger.

It had been difficult coming here, undetected and in the cover of darkness. The galaxy was very different now.

Palpatine, the Emperor, was nearly in control of everything. And much like himself, the Senate which was once the center of democracy was nothing but a shell of it's former self. It was a risk coming to Coruscant, taking pains to hide himself so no one recognized him.

His time with the Kamoan's had thought him patience and restraint if nothing else.

The odd but very intelligent creatures kept to themselves, and rarely interacted with him. Alone and left largely to his own devices, he did not have any interest being in the presence of the clones, thus, he secluded himself within their walls, relearning how to use his body like a toddler learning to walk on two feet. And it seems, learning everything else.

Without the Force, every physical step felt slow and heavy. His reflexes were strong but not as sharp and precise as it once was. His new limbs were scarless but inexperienced with the rest of his body. He felt unlike himself even in his own skin. Regardless, he felt the tiniest bit grateful about the lack of mechanical substitutes.

Kamino had been so isolated from the rest of the Galaxy, and no news of the current regime made it's way to its stormy planet. With only himself for company, his fears were at its purest and he struggled to even leave his room.

It was months before he was confident enough to step outside the familiarity of his doors. He hadn't known idleness until waking up in that place. For as far back as he could remember, he was always active. Whether as a slave, a Padawan, a husband or a peer of the Jedi, he was always on the move.

With no friends, no family, confidants and even Masters to tell him what to do, for the first time in his entire life, he was entirely alone.

But here in Coruscant, he remembered the happier times beyond the wreckage of his actions. They were a culmination of brief hidden moments that threaten to break his grasp in reality, but he held it barely at bay, simultaneously fearing and wanting the safety of the fantasies his mind could take him to.

No longer could he let himself retreat into that paralyzing psychosis. Palpatine cannot know he was here. No one can.

With one last glance of the home he once shared with his wife, he disappeared into the safety of the night, hidden once more.

* * *

Going to a bar isn't like what it used to be. He'd rarely go alone when it did not involve a mission, and when he did, it was often with his Master. There had been a time when meeting people and other sentient beings was welcoming and instinctual, perhaps even a challenge, but now he could hardly stand being around so many of them at once.

Even in the presence of a child nearby, he would freeze, anxiety threatening to erupt. He knew the cause, why he felt that way, and why he tried so hard not to dwell on it.

It only threatens to deepen his depression.

It was one more weight he could never lift.

Finally finding a dimly lit bar with little patrons, he sat alone with his thoughts.

He ordered quickly, kept his head down and stayed quiet. And when his drink arrived, he'd be slow to finish. Sometimes, when his mind dared to think it, he would wonder what it'd be like if he never left Tatooine, never left his mother. Even more fantastical, what it would be like if he and his mother were never slaves. If he was just a normal boy amidst a world on the edge of chaos.

The errant thought would come and go briefly, and he reminded himself that he was not that boy.

Against his will, that errant thought continued to resurface and in his mind and heart, he knew what he had to do.

It was time for him to go back where it all started.

* * *

Camouflaged alongside dozens of other beings huddled together in the tightly cramped cargo hold, all type of races looking for work anywhere in the galaxy, Anakin sat quietly in his space as the ship began it's final descent toward their destination.

When the dust settled and the doors opened, everyone, including himself, was bombarded by the sharp unforgiving light of Tatooine's dual suns.

Taking a deep breath, he tentatively stepped out and let history take him over.

Unsurprised, Tatooine remained relatively unchanged since the fall of the Republic. Other than the small presence of Stormtroopers, Palpatine's Empire had little need of the Outer Rim planet that hosts many less reputable beings beyond a port to layover until reaching their ordered destination. Home to scoundrels and wastrels and the slaves they shamelessly parade, nothing about this place showed mercy or even a potential for greatness.

Not wanting to linger in a place as populated as Mos Espa, for he knew that if anyone saw him, he would be undoubtedly recognized, he slid away and settled by traveling on foot across the sands.

He had learned the hard way that the only presence he could handle was his own.

* * *

In the cover of night, he waited into the deep hours until it was safe from prying eyes to enter the sacred ground she was buried under.

He stared at the marker, disbelieving that after all these years, he was here once more.

This time he was not a savior.

Not a hero.

But a fallen man.

He chuckled humorlessly to himself. "I'm not the man you hoped I would become, my promises broken. And I wish an apology was enough to wash the sins I've committed." He knelt down and grasped a handful of dirt in his hand, squeezing it shut and watching the tiny specks of course sands find the cracks between his fingers. "I did everything wrong, Mom. And I don't know how to fix it. Short of death, I don't know what else is there to do. I've lost everything, and I know I don't deserve anything beyond what I am now. My wi… she's gone. The Jedi are in hiding. The Force has left me and I have no one else to blame but myself."

"My greatest fear has taken life. Everyone's gone and I'm alone and I have no one else to blame but myself."

The silence afterwards only lasted a moment.

"You're not alone, mister."

Startled, Anakin spun around and stepped further away from the sudden intruder. He looked down, and his eyes met the face of a little boy and his mind was suddenly engulfed by the terrible deeds of his past.

The Temple.

Younglings.

Screams.

Silence.

"Are you okay, Mister?"

He could barely speak but a few words.

"I'm uh… Passing through. It's uh… a bit late."

"It's okay. My family's sleeping right now."

This child didn't seem interested in leaving him alone and for the life of him; Anakin didn't know why he hadn't just left yet. The boy made him uncomfortable, like a thundering and relentless reminder of the innocence he once possessed at that age.

It was… disconcerting.

He averted his eyes away from the boy. "You should… uh… go to bed?" he said with uncertainty.

The boy stubbornly remained. His anxiety in the child's presence ratcheted up when the boy decided he had no sense of self-preservation in the presence of a stranger and moved closer to him.

Promptly, Anakin stepped back.

"I can't sleep."

"Oh," he replied dumbly.

"And at night, I like to watch the stars."

A distant memory of Qui Gon Jin appeared in his mind but he shook it away before it took hold.

"Um… I'm sorry for disturbing you, I'll be leaving now."

"Wait!" the boy called out.

When his small hand touched his, Anakin nearly collapsed. He felt the spark of the Force flow through him, like fireworks. Loud, powerful and thankfully brief. It lasted only for a moment, but he feared its power. He'd been without it for four years, and its presence felt alien. He learned too late how hard it was to control his emotions. The Force had given him abilities, abilities that no normal being could achieve, but for every strength had its weaknesses.

His emotions were always his.

Anakin had to get away from this child before he unwittingly provokes something he wasn't ready for.

"I think you should go home," he mustered up to say firmly, his eyes still unable to meet the child's gaze.

"But I don't even know your name."

The boy sounded uncommonly disappointed. It was as if the child counted him a friend and wonders why he's even leaving. It was an absurd thought, but Tatooine isn't known for the sunny disposition of its homelanders. The boy must not have that many friends, Anakin surmised.

"I'd rather not give it."

"My auntie says that I shouldn't talk to strangers with no names."

Anakin gulped. "She's very wise."

"It's really dark out there. Do you have to leave?"

Anakin nodded, keeping his distance. "I have to go."

The boy looked like he was finally understanding even though Anakin felt uncharacteristically terrible for not obliging the boy even with a lie.

"Goodbye."

"Bye, Mister."

Against his will, he couldn't stop the small smile appear. It was strange, to finally smile when there really wasn't anything in his life to smile about. Just as he turned to leave, he stopped and turned sideways, not fully turning but not facing the boy either.

"What's your name?"

He heard the short shuffle of feet and then, softly, his name came forth.

"Luke."

Anakin nodded. "Goodnight, Luke."

**TBC**


End file.
